Barbara Holland

Barbara Holland was born in Washington, D.C., in 1933 and died in Bluemont, Va., in 2010. Her 15 books include humor, history, essays, biography, memoirs and children’s books. Favorites are "They Went Whistling - Women Wayfarers, Warriors, Runaways, and Renegades," "Hail to the Chiefs: Presidential Mischief, Morals & Malarkey from George W. to George W.," and "Endangered Pleasures: In Defense of Naps, Bacon, Martinis, Profanity, and Other Indulgences." HarperCollins released a revised edition of Barbara's best-selling book, "Secrets of the Cat: Its Lore, Legend and Lives," in 2010.

Barbara wrote stories and articles for a wide range of publications--from "Seventeen" to "Smithsonian"--for more than 50 years. She worked as an advertising copywriter in the 1950s and '60s and the “Mad Men” life informed her short stories, which are being edited for publication along with two novellas. She loved the Bluemont area and immortalized Loudoun County in "Bingo Night at the Fire Hall: The case for cows, orchards, bake sales & fairs.”